How to Train Your Firebender
by drollydragon
Summary: When Zuko ends up on the remote island of Berk, meeting the chief's son Hiccup leads to a series of strange yet eye-opening shenanigans. Learning about each other's lives and, most importantly, dragons, the two begin to discover that their worlds—and identities—are not so different after all. This fanfic contains adventure, several awkward stares, and lots of draconic fun.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiccup**

It was just about as beautiful a day you could get on the island of Berk, so I was taking a long flight with my dragon Toothless. For the most part, it proved to be a pretty uneventful journey. We were flying over one of the big forests, so we saw a couple of Timberjacks and I think I spotted a Scauldron out to sea, but other than that, it was simply a relaxing time-killer.

At least, that's what I thought until a fireball almost scorched my face.

"Whoa!" Toothless made an alarmed noise and swerved violently to the right. It hadn't been a fire _ball_ exactly, I realized as another one shot up from the trees in the same spot. It was more of a long tongue of flame, almost like a fountain of fiery doom spraying up from the pines.

Studying the erratic fireblasts, I was confused at the concept of them, or rather, what had made them. Dragons almost always breathed fire in explosive spurts, and even when they did occasionally use a sustained flame like the ones I was seeing, they were only able to sustain them inside their mouths, never at such a long range as this.

Of course, realizing this, I immediately became excited as I wondered if it could be some new species of dragon. The logical side of my brain doubted this, for in the last year-and-a-half since Berk had become dragon-friendly, we'd searched the entire island, and defenitely this forest. I decided to investigate anyway. If it was a new dragon, great! I could study and train it, just as I had done with the rest of the species. And even if it wasn't, I was sure there was a good explanation for these firebursts, and it wouldn't disrupt my daily life.

Oh, how wrong I was.

 **Zuko**

"Arrgh!"

I punched the air again in frustration, sending a bolt of flame from my fist. I had no idea what was going on or why I was here. I took my fury out on the sky again.

 _What will the Fire Nation do when they find out their Fire Lord has just vanished?_ I wondered. _What should_ I _do now that my world has vanished and I've...appeared in another one?_

I was tempted to punch the sky again, but I realized that if anyone saw that from afar, it would look quite suspicious. I had no idea if there were benders here, after all. _Stupid self._

Needing another outlet, I decided to pace. Pacing seemed like a good idea, though it was hard not to run into any trees.

Swerving between two trunks, I thought aloud. "Okay," I muttered, "so I'm stranded in a strange forest in a strange world with no way as of yet to get home. What should I do?" I considered my options. "A: I could try to survive out in the wilderness until I can get home. B: I could climb a tree to see where I am and if I can spot anything familiar. C:..." I frowned. "I could see if I can find any people and get some help."

That was a tricky one. One the one hand, if there were any people here, they would surely have food and shelter and maybe know how I could get home. On the other, though, if they were hostile, they could capture me or even kill me. Sure, I had my bending, but that wouldn't be enough to defend against a whole army.

I sighed to myself and decided to risk it. I headed towards the nearest tree—seeing my location sounded like a good idea anyway. I put my hands and sized up the jump to the nearest branch. I squinted at it.

"Hmm. Maybe if I—aah!"

For a few seconds, I was aware only of a huge black mass bowling me over and a stab of pain as my head collided with the cold, hard ground. Lights danced in front of my vision, but when I cleared it, I saw the gaze of a predator.

Huge tea green eyes bored into mine, their pupils thin slits. I couldn't help shaking as the creature bared its teeth and snarled at me, its four limbs pinning my own. I wasn't sure what the beast was, but I guessed that it was some sort of giant reptile because of the dark scales covering its body. I assumed the animal would eat me right there, but instead it pulled its head back a little.

And then I locked eyes with the human on its back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiccup**

I assessed the stranger that Toothless had decided to jump on. I felt sure I had never seen him before. Our village was a big one, but being the chief's son, I had met everyone at least once, and I was positive I would have remembered someone as odd-looking as this. He looked around my age, maybe sixteen or seventeen. His hair was fairly long for a man and was black, darker than anyone's on Berk. His eyes were a startling, even unnatural, shade of gold that slightly unnerved me, even if they belonged to a guy being pinned down by a multi-ton dragon. His clothes were long and an unfamiliar style to me. Everything about this boy was a little bit off, but the most intriguing thing by far was his scar.

The stranger's left eye was seared with an old, severe burn scar that looked almost too deliberate and precise to have been left by a dragon. It was so bad that I was surprised he looked as if he could still see out of it. Both eyes were flickering from myself to Toothless, looking as shocked and confused as I felt.

With a stab of embarrassment I realized that we'd just been staring at each other for over a minute without saying anything, so I cleared my throat and tried to sound like my dad—all authoritative and bossy.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of him, well aware that I sounded very corny.

He looked me in the eye, which I appreciated, and grimaced. "That...I'm not entirely sure of. Do you live around here? I could use your help."

I was surprised but also still suspicious. "Hmm." I silently debated whether to bring him back to the village. I couldn't just let him go, but I didn't know if my father would appreciate me bringing a complete stranger into the village. I couldn't exactly get Toothless to fly back and get him.

I came to the conclusion that I really had no choice. "I'll take you to my father," I informed him. "He's the chief. He'll know what to do with you better than me."

The guy nodded, so I backed Toothless up and allowed him to stand. His jaw dropped a little as he got a better look at my dragon.

"That thing has wings!" he exclaimed. "What _is_ it?"

I stared at him oddly. He _had_ to know about dragons, didn't he? "Of course he does," I replied. "He's a dragon."

The scar guy's face morphed into confusion. "That's not a dragon," he informed me.

"Of course he is," I said, slightly irritated. "He's a Night Fury. What else would he be?"

Scar Guy looked extremely confused but didn't argue with me any more. "Come on," I said. "We're going."

Toothless lifted off the ground and did a quick loop, then snatched Scar Guy's arms in his claws and shot up through the canopy.

"Get ready to fly!" I shouted gleefully to Scar Guy, whose face was a mixture of fear and shock.

This would be fun.

 **Zuko**

The "dragon" took off into the sky, taking the other person and me with it. I was still puzzled by that piece of information—this looked nothing like the dragons that Aand and I had faced at the Sun Warrior Civilization. I didn't have time to think about that, though, because I was _flying_ but could fall at any moment if the dragon decided to drop me.

It was both exhilarating and terrifying, though I'm sure the person in the dragon's saddle (who would dare put a _saddle_ on one of the greatest firebending masters in the universe?) was far from scared. My own fear probably had something to do with hanging from the creature's claws like its freshly caught meal. I certainly felt like it.

I shivered as the icy wind brushed me with its cold fingers. My Fire Nation robes were clearly not the right attire for living in this place. The dragon boy had been wearing a furry brown vest over his shirt, which probably helped.

My arms felt as if they were being pulled out of their sockets. The dragon creature had a strong grip on me, but I attempted to hold on to its legs too, just in case I fell.

I chanced a look at the dragon's long tail. Two finlike parts adorned the end of it, and the left one was seemingly artificial—it was red and coated with cloth. The artificial fin had also seemed connected to the saddle somehow when I had seen it earlier.

 _Hmm. Maybe I'll learn more about it later._

After a long flight, I could spot a village nestled by the cliffs of the island. It looked very... _not_ -modern; the houses were all old-fashioned and there was no sign of the industrialization that my own nation prided itself on. A large fleet of wooden, sail-powered ships was rocking slowly with the waves at the docks, and I noted that it must mean they had an army...or maybe they were just fishermen's boats. I assumed I would find out soon enough.

The dragon and its rider flew me towards the most enormous building in the village. The massive doors were flanked with even more massive stone statues of giant men with strange hats holding swords in their mouths. I frowned. _This place is strange._

The dragon dropped me on the hard stone just outside the building right before it landed. The rider got off, opened the doors, and looked back at me with what I thought was the tiniest of smiles, though I couldn't tell if it was kindly or a smirk.

"Come on," he said. "It's time for you to meet my dad."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiccup**

I led Scar Guy inside, who seemed to gather his courage first, and got ready to introduce him to Dad.

Dad wasn't there.

I looked sheepishly back at the guy. "He must be back at my house," I said, a little embarrassed. His expression was unreadable as he nodded. He didn't look as amused as I would have expected; he was almost too serious for my liking.

Apparently I hadn't seen her upon entering, but there _was_ someone in the Great Hall: my girlfriend, Astrid. She walked up to me, looking happy, but stopped dead in her tracks and I knew she had spotted my new friend.

"Hiccup?" she said slowly, and I swear I caught Scar Guy stifling a snort. I glared at him.

"Who's this?" Astrid inquired.

"I found him out in the woods," I explained. "I need to find my dad."

Astrid nodded. "I'll go get him; you stay here."

"Thanks, Astrid." She smiled and kissed my cheek quickly before running out the doors.

Scar Guy and I stared at each other awkwardly. I cleared my throat.

"So. Um. Hi."

He looked at me with a hint of condescension. "Hello. Hicc-Hiccup, was it?"

My glare returned. "You're trying not to laugh."

That caught him off guard, and I found myself feeling pleased when he looked flustered. "Of course I'm not!"

My bad mood left as I discovered I could break his calm shell just as well as he could break mine, and I allowed myself to give him a wry smile. "I'm used to it."

Scar Guy nodded, pulling himself together. "My name is Zuko." He stretched out his right hand and I awkwardly shook it. It wasn't that I wasn't used to shaking hands, it was just that he did it so... _formally._ Although he was around my age, he seemed so much more mature—not just more than me, but more than anyone in the village, even my dad. All the Vikings were gruff and stubborn but also neighborly with each other, treating everyone like a well-known friend, even if they were barely aquainted. This guy was just so proper and distant. It was as foreign as his clothing to me.

 _Zuko._ That was a strange name—not that I was one to talk, of course. I wondered where he came from and what the culture was like there. Obviously there were dragons, but they must have been different somehow—he had been confused at the fact that Hiccup identified Toothless as one. I was curious as to whether they trained them or fought them. If it was the latter, maybe we could change his mind.

 _Getting hasty there, aren't you?_ I scolded myself. I had no idea what my father would do with Zuko. For all I knew, he could be thrown off the cliffside ten minutes from now. Realistically, I was pretty sure Dad wouldn't do that, but I couldn't be sure he would let the stranger stay.

Zuko must have been having similar thoughts, for he narrowed his eyes and asked me, "What do you think the chief will do with me?"

"I'm not sure," I confessed, "but I think it's safe to say he won't kill you."

"Very reassuring," he said dryly. I raised my eyebrows. So he _did_ have a sense of humor!

"Oh! Speak of the devil," Zuko said, turning towards the door. I had no idea what he was talking about—what devil?—but at that moment, Stoick the Vast walked into the Great Hall.

Things were about to get interesting.

 **Zuko**

The chief of Hiccup's village was a massive man; he must have stood seven feet tall, and he was brawny, too, making him a truly intimidating man just by his build. He had a thick red beard which was separated into several braids at the end, and he wore a metal helmet with hornlike spikes sticking out of either end and sloping towards the ceiling. He wore a long fur cape and a belt with a huge buckle decorated with a design that I could barely distinguish as being a dragon, though it looked different from Hiccup's pet. His face was set in a serious grimace, and I tried not to feel meek as he was looked over.

When the chief's eyes met mine, I suddenly became painfully aware of my scar. Hiccup had seemed confused about every part of me, so I hadn't thought of the painful mark my father had left until now. I forced myself to stay calm, and I waited for Hiccup's father to speak first.

"What is your name?" he asked first, and I had a feeling I was about to be thoroughly interrogated.

"Chief...uh," I started, suddenly realizing I didn't know the man's name but deciding to just go with it. "Chief, my name is Fire Lord Zuko."

I caught Hiccup's fleeting expression. I had purposefully left that particular detail out until now so I'd only have to explain it once.

The chief's eyebrows were raised. "I am Stoick, and this is my son Hiccup." He gestured to the freckled boy, who was focused on the conversation but simultaneously scratching the neck of his dragon. "And what is this "fire" place you come from? Are you their leader?"

"Yes, but I was only crowned just recently. It's a land called the Fire Nation, and it's one of four, the others being the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Air Temples...well, almost all of the Air Nomads were wiped out, but one survived." I thought sadly about Aang. Did my friend think me dead?

"I see." If Stoick was confused at all, he didn't show it. "So, Fire Lord, how did you find Berk, and why have you come?"

This was the hard part to explain. I didn't think he'd be able to make these people understand, mostly because I didn't really understand it myself. "I'm...not actually sure. I just woke up this morning and instead of in my bed, I was in the woods." I spread my hands hopelessly. "I have no idea where my lands are."

"Hmm." The chief didn't look entirely convinced, but apparently he believed my explanation enough to trust him. "No idea at all? Not even the general direction or anything?"

"None," I confirmed.

Stoick's brow furrowed. "Well, there's nothing we can do currently," he said briskly. "I suppose we should just have you stay here until we can think of something. But I'm going to have to put a guard on you."

"It's nothing personal," Hiccup added. "Just for safety—both for us and for you."

"When the time comes, you can sleep in here," Stoick informed me. "I'll get someone to watch you, but I have to get back to other matters."

"I can do it for now, Dad," Hiccup said, and I glanced at him in surprise, confused as to why he didn't want to get away from me. He had seemed quite awkward around me, so why was he offering to stay?

"All right," Stoick agreed. "I'll inform everyone about your being here, Fire Lord Zuko." He walked out of the hall, and there was another moment of awkward silence between Hiccup and me. That happened far too often.

"So. You're a leader, huh?" Hiccup tried to start a conversation, shifting his weight. His dragon inspected me with slight suspicion, pupils dilated.

"Yep." I didn't know what else to say. "A leader. Of the Fire Nation. Which you have no idea really what that is."

"Yeah. Neat."

Staring was uncomfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiccup**

I wasn't sure where to take Zuko. I considered giving him the village tour, but there really wasn't much to see; it was mostly just houses, small businesses like bakeries, and Gobber's smithy. He didn't seem like a guy who would be interested in blacksmithing, so I decided to take him to meet my friends.

Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut all happened to be in the arena with their dragons. Zuko looked them over quietly with his sharp golden eyes. The Viking teens were a bit less discreet in their observations.

"Is that the new guy? Astrid told us about you," Fishlegs told Zuko.

"What's up with his clothes?" Snotlout wondered, smirking.

"What's up with his _face?_ " Ruffnut said pointedly, gesturing to Zuko's scar. "What kind of dragon did _that?_ "

He was trying to hide it, but I could tell Zuko was feeling uncomfortable. "Guys, this is Zuko." I decided not to mention his status; doing so would just mean more explaining than I already needed to do.

I quickly summarized the morning's events for them, ending with the fact that I had to stay with Zuko at all times.

After that, I made the rest of the introductions. "This is Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut."

"Pleased to meet you." Zuko did a weird little hand sign and bowed. I was pretty sure he did it to hide his laughter, since he hadn't done it upon meeting me or my dad.

The Fire Lord was looking at each of the teens' reptilian companions. "So...these are all...dragons?"

"Of course they are," Snotlout said. "Why? What else would they be?"

"That's what I said," I informed him.

"Nothing," Zuko replied, "just that, well, dragons are quite... _different_ where I come from."

"Really?" Fishlegs said enthusiastically. "What kinds are there? How are they different? What are they like? Do you train them? How—?"

"Fishlegs, let him answer the questions!" laughed Astrid. "Because I'm curious too, but if you keep asking him more, you'll forget to ask the first ones again."

"Okay," Fishlegs relented.

"Well, there's only one kind of dragon, so we just call them, well, dragons," Zuko said, seeming very much like he was trying to make this as simple as possible. "There used to be lots and lots of them, but they were...they're very rare now. As far as I know, there's only two left alive. They're very powerful and wise, and their names are Ran and Shaw. When you meet them, they judge you, and if they think you're worthy, they teach you. They're the masters of fireb—" Zuko suddenly froze. "Of fire," he finished uncomfortably.

 _Suspicious,_ I thought to myself. Astrid looked confused, and I knew she knew something was up.

Fishlegs was too fascinated to care. "Woah! They teach you about fire? Like, what about it? The different kinds? Because, like, Meatlug here—" he patted his Gronckle— "shoots normal fire, but Night Furies shoot plasma which explodes, and Hideous Zipplebacks are really cool; one of the heads—"

Tuffnut shoved him. Fishlegs grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Zuko looked bewildered.

None of us tried to get him out of answering Fishlegs's barrage of questions. There was a beat of silence, and everyone's expression was different. Snotlout: bored. Astrid: suspicious. Fishlegs: curious. The twins: slightly hostile. And Zuko seemed to be making a decision.

"I think it would be better if I showed you. Stand back."

We obliged, watching the foreigner in silence. He did the hand signal-bow again, closing his eyes and opening them again when he was finished.

Zuko stepped forward, opening a fist and stretching his hand forward like he was signaling someone to stop.

It must have been my heart he'd been signaling, for it skipped a beat as a tongue of orange flames materialized from Zuko's palm and streamed into the wall of the arena.

I was pretty sure I had figured out why he was called the Fire Lord.

 **Zuko**

The looks on Hiccup and his friends' faces had a wide range of emotions, but none of them were friendly.

Astrid looked stunned. The one with all the questions looked terrified, like he might faint. The black-haired one was full-on hostile, and the twin brother and sister looked dubious, like they very much thought it was a hoax.

Hiccup was harder to read. He kind of seemed like a mixture of every emotion I could think of that would fit this situation.

I had no idea how they would respond, but I felt like I did the right thing by showing them my firebending. They'd learn sooner or later, so it was better to let them know that I wasn't going to keep secrets from them. I doubted it would make much of a difference, though; it would make them trust him less rather than more to find out that he had the powers of their pets, at least until the shock wore off.

Hiccup was the first to speak. "How did dragons teach you _that_?" He spoke so normally you'd have thought I had just showed them a new fencing move.

I answered Hiccup. "Well, they didn't exactly. They gave firebending to humans a long time ago, and it's passed down through genetics. They just helped me really understand what fire is really about."

"Blowing stuff up, obviously," Snotlout said confidently. His dragon lit its whole body on fire to prove the point.

"Firebending." Hiccup tried out the word. I nodded.

"Yeah."

"What do we tell your dad?" Astrid asked her boyfriend.

Hiccup didn't answer right away; his brow was furrowed and he looked thoughtful.

"We have to tell him _something,_ " Tuffnut pointed out. "Something this earth-shattering should _probably_ be known about by the chief."

I felt stupid. Sure, the _teenagers_ of this village might not do anything to him, but I had a feeling Stoick would not be so sympathetic.

I felt a nudge on my leg and looked down to see Hiccup's black dragon next to me. It looked curious, even intrigued, a level of intelligence I hadn't expected. I lit a small dancing flame in my cupped hand and let the dragon examine it. Fishlegs flinched.

The dragon blinked at the fire, and then at me. Catching my eye, it produced its own sustained fire in its mouth. I saw a flash of bluish-purple that immediately morphed into orange as the dragon kept its flame going, and I did the same.

Before I knew it, the rest of the teens' dragons were crowding around me as well. Snotlout's ignited its entire body again. Astrid's spiny blue dragon puffed up its tail spikes and scorched the ground with a small blast. Fishlegs's heavyset brown dragon mimicked Hiccup's, and the twins' two-headed dragon approached me last. One of the heads emitted a strange green gas around me. Hiccup made an alarmed noise, but before he could do anything, the other head lit a spark. A brief moment of pain hit my face and I froze.

An Agni Kai. My father. My scar.

It only lasted a millisecond, and I bent the rest of the fire away from me, frustrated with myself but pretending like nothing had happened.

"Unbelievable," Hiccup murmured. "They think you're one of them."

"He did learn from dragons," Astrid noted.

The dragons extinguished their flames at the sound of the teens' voices. Hiccup's dragon nudged his owner playfully, and Hiccup smiled at him before addressing me again.

"Zuko, this is Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch."

 _More strange names,_ I thought to myself, but somehow in a more affectionate way this time than confused.

"You're a natural with them," remarked Fishlegs, sounding slightly less mortified.

"You know, as long as you don't set anything on fire," Hiccup pointed out with a sideways glance at me, "there's no reason why Dad has to know anything more…"

For the first time since arriving on Berk, I couldn't help but smile.

"And what's more, there's nothing Dad said you couldn't do, and that includes riding dragons…"

The smile became a grin.

"Zuko, how would you like to learn how to train a dragon?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiccup**

Astrid let me borrow Stormfly so that I could teach Zuko to ride her.

"I'd let you ride Toothless, but that involves a whole other process for controlling his tail. I've found it's easier for me like this anyway than with a real leg." I lifted the metal peg that served as my left foot.

Zuko's eyes widened. "How did I never notice that?" he wondered aloud. He seemed to catch himself. "Was that insensitive? Sorry."

"It's fine." I waved him off. "It's just a part of my life, like Toothless's tail." I nodded to the artificial tail fin. "And like I said, it makes me a more fluid part of him when we're flying anyway."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I thought for a moment. "Whatever I say, it'll just sound cheesy. You have to really fly to get it...When you're up there, you'll know what I mean." I paused. "That sounded cheesy anyway."

Zuko smiled. "Don't worry about it. I have plenty of cheesy friends. And an uncle" His voice trailed off on the word _uncle_ , and his face suddenly looked solemn.

I realized that I hadn't really wondered about Zuko's friends and family back at wherever he lived. I wasn't sure whether to speak; I would probably just say something stupid and unhelpful.

Zuko snapped back to reality. "Sorry," he said.

"Don't be," I told him. "Now let's get to flying!"

We mounted our dragons. "When I take off with Toothless," I instructed, "Stormfly is probably going to follow. Don't worry about steering her yet; just hang on and let her follow us."

"Got it," Zuko said, gripping the Deadly Nadder.

I opened up Toothless's tail and took off into the bright blue air. I heard the soft _whoosh_ of Stormfly's wings as she followed.

I led the way down a meandering path, taking random turns and often letting Toothless do the steering. I didn't look back at Zuko because it would have felt...intrusive. I let him have his moment, for I remembered the first time _I_ rode a dragon.

It's something you never forget, and it's something that should just be between you and the dragon, because that's what flying is about.

 **Zuko**

Flying was the best thing I'd experienced since meeting Ran and Shaw. It had been incredible enough to meet dragons, and now I was _riding_ one! I knew, obviously, that I was not the first from my world to do so; Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin both rode their respective steeds, Roku's being his animal guide. But that didn't make this feeling any less special.

Stormfly's scales were rough, but the slope of her spine was smooth, and her body heat cancelled out the whip of the wind. I almost forgot a couple of times that Hiccup was in front of me, but having a friend there almost made it better.

 _Friend._

I was surprised at myself. I barely knew Hiccup; his dragon had violently pinned me down during our first encounter. But something about the way he treated me was different from his friends; there was something different about him from seemingly his whole village, from what I had seen of them. And that something different was something I liked.

Stormfly flew a bit faster, and we ended up neck-and-neck with Toothless. Hiccup grinned at me, and I automatically grinned back. _Since when do I_ automatically grin?

I looked ahead and noticed that we were almost back at Berk. Just in time, too—the sun was setting, leaving a pinkish-orange streak across the cloudy sky. _My first night at Berk._

I still missed my own world, of course. I worried about the Fire Nation and cursed myself for carefreely riding on a dragon while my entire nation was most likely in chaos. I missed Aang, Katara, Sokka, and even Toph and Suki. I knew that they must be worried half to death, but not nearly as much as my uncle. Most of all, I missed Uncle Iroh, and I wished that he could have been here to see this, to ride a dragon. But all of that was somehow balanced out. Oddly, I felt like I was really fitting in here, which I never expected, especially after I revealed my firebending.

I looked up just in time to see Hiccup shoot me a _don't try this at home_ look, then watched in slight horror and amazement as he leaped off of his dragon's back.

Toothless tucked into a dive, partially folding his wings as the two fell towards the ocean below them. Their heads were pointed towards the water and their faces towards each other. Hiccup was laughing and Toothless was making happy little dragon noises. That was the moment that really made me realize that Toothless was not Hiccup's pet. He was his best friend.

That kind of bond could only be made between a human and a dragon. I stroked Stormfly's neck. I was riding her, but she really belonged to Astrid, and I felt slightly more alone as I realized that this friendship was something I could never have.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiccup**

By the time Zuko and I got back to Berk, the first evening stars were beginning to appear, and Toothless was becoming ever-increasingly hard to see, even for me, so I had to keep looking back and making sure my new friend was still behind me.

Astrid was waiting for us back in the arena. "How was it?" She addressed me, sending only fleeting glances at Zuko.

"It was great; thanks for letting us borrow Stormfly," I said as Zuko dismounted the Deadly Nadder.

I got off of Toothless, and we walked back to the Great Hall. I realized I wasn't sure what to do. _Should I stay or should I go?_ He'd either have to sleep in here too or get someone else to watch Zuko...someone who might be hostile.

I bit my lip. Sleeping in the Great Hall would be uncomfortable, but hey, at least I'd have Toothless.

Zuko looked surprised when I didn't leave, but he didn't question me and sat down on the floor.

Would sitting next to him be the appropriate thing to do, or would it be invading his personal space? I didn't know the firebender well enough to predict his reaction.

I decided to compromise and have Toothless lay between us.

After a few minutes of sitting there, I noticed that he was patting Toothless and smiling at the Night Fury. Noticing my staring at him, he took his hand off the dragon, but I shook my head. It was good that he and Toothless liked each other.

We sat there doing nothing for several minutes while the flames in the enormous firepit of the Great Hall died down, but somehow it felt less awkward than the rest of the day. After a while, it felt like I didn't forget his presence exactly, but it felt like he just belonged there; he felt a little less out of place.

I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I was aware of was dawn light seeping through the cracks of the Great Hall's doors.

I yawned, wincing a little. My back hurt a bit from sleeping on the hard floor. Toothless was up immediately, climbing all over myself and Zuko.

"Oof!" Toothless's foot was shoved into Zuko's face and he drowsily shoved the dragon off.

The firebender stood up and brushed himself off. "Well, that's one way to wake up," he said.

I patted the dragon's head. "Sorry. He always gets me up really early—he wants to go flying," I explained. "Usually it's from my roof, though."

"I'm used to early mornings, too," Zuko said. "Ever since I became Fire Lord, I've been having to get up really early for meetings and other things. I thought being zapped into a different world would give me a break from that," he joked.

I laughed. "Berk's no vacation spot," I said.

"Truth be told, I feel like it would be for several people I know," Zuko inferred.

Upon the mention of his world, I became curious. "Tell me more about where you come from," I suggested hopefully.

His face twisted into a small, wry grimace. "This is going to be hard to explain," he said, half to himself. "But I'll do my best.

"Here goes nothing."

 **Zuko**

I eventually managed to explain my world to Hiccup. He seemed fascinated by the different animals and elements, but confused by the spirits.

"We don't have spirits here," he informed me, "only gods. They sound similar, but...also different."

I made a noncommital noise. "I'm surprised I even managed to explain the Avatar."

"So he's the last of the airbenders." I nodded, and Hiccup shook his head. "That must have been hard, growing up on the "wrong" side of the war." He made air quotes.

I sighed, my hand automatically brushing my left eye. "You have no idea."

I could see the questions on the Viking's face, but none of them were put into words. He changed the subject for me. "So how did you meet the Avatar?"

I could feel my face heating up. "It's a long story," I said evasively.

Hiccup's eyebrows raised, but he didn't press me. Instead he wondered, "Has he met those dragons of yours? I mean, to be such a powerful firebender, he must have, right?"

I nodded. "He was with me, actually. It was pretty amazing. As far as I know, the only people who even know about the dragons' existance are him, me, my uncle, and this one tribe that worships them."

"Wow," Hiccup said wistfully. "I wish I could meet them."

"Maybe you will someday, if you happened to get zapped into my world," I jested. Hiccup shrugged and smiled.

"You never know," he said. Toothless head-butted him.

I was reminded of something. "Hey, Hiccup," I asked, frowning slightly, "whatever happened to Toothless's tail?"

The expression on his face was a strange one: guilt mixed in with sadness, self-anger, and a tinge of embarrassment. "Oh...right, that."

He sighed and scowled at his feet. "Well, Berk is a great place now, but it didn't use to be so dragon-friendly. They would raid our food and, well, apparently the best solution was killing them."

Hiccup's gaze shifted to his dragon companion. "The Night Fury was considered the ultimate prize, so one night during a raid, I...I shot him down.

"I found him in the woods, tangled up and unable to move. His tail was half-ruined. I was going to kill him."

I didn't know what to say or even think.

"But I couldn't. I wouldn't kill him, so I cut the ropes. He couldn't fly without his tail, so he was stuck in a little cove surrounded by cliffs. I felt like I owed it to him, so I made him a new tail fin. It couldn't open on its own, though, so eventually I made all this." He gestured to Toothless's saddle and harness.

"I still feel bad about it sometimes," he confessed. "I was pretty horrible."

I barked a laugh. "Oh, that's got _nothing_ on my life. You have no idea what I was like up until a few months ago."

He shook his head. "I suppose I don't." He looked at me searchingly.

I realized what I had gotten myself into. I don't think Hiccup knew it exactly, but this was a test. He'd confessed to me the times when he was at his lowest point as a person. We'd built each other's trust over the last day. If I wanted to keep it that way, I needed to tell him.

"Like I said, it's a long story." Hiccup nodded.

"I'll start from the beginning."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hiccup**

Zuko's story _was_ a long one, and I didn't entirely follow all of it, but I got the gist. I had no idea what to say except "wow."

He grimaced. "So, you see, you might not have been as bad of a person as you thought, at least compared to me."

I shrugged. I didn't think anything would ever really erase my guilt about Toothless's tail, even if it didn't plague me often. I was more concerned with Zuko's past than my own (though I wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not). I wasn't sure what to tell him, though. What do you say to a story like his?

He seemed to sense my struggle. "You don't have to say anything," he said, shaking his head. "It's in the past. I'd rather leave it be."

"You can still learn from it," I pointed out.

Zuko nodded. "I know, and I do. I'm just saying that I don't need therapy."

At that moment, Toothless barged into the both of us, knocking us to the floor. "Okay, Mr. Bossy," I told him. "We can go flying now. If that's good with you?" I added, turning to Zuko, who was dusting himself off.

"Sure," he said agreeably.

"Okay; I'll see if we can borrow Stormfly again."

Apparently Astrid was already out with Stormfly, so we got permission to use Meatlug instead.

Gronckles were notably less comfortable to ride than Nadders, but Zuko didn't complain—he just looked pleased to be on a dragon again. He was also confident. Most Vikings were a little nervous the first few times flying, but Zuko showed no signs of hesitating. I had to remind myself that he'd met dragons before, but even so, I was amazed at how automatically he was connecting with them. The only person I had even seen mesh that perfectly with a dragon was, well, (not to sing my own praises,) myself, and even for me, it had taken patience and trust-building. I guess it helped that Meatlug and Stormfly were already domesticated.

After returning Meatlug to Fishlegs, who was eating a potato for some reason, I introduced Zuko to blacksmithing because we had nothing better to do. He told me about weaponry where he came from and how he used a pair of thin, identical swords.

"Two swords at once?" I questioned. "That sounds heavy."

"They're made to be used together, so they're lighter than these," he clarified, gesturing to the heavyweight swords stranded around the smithy. "One of my friends uses a sword too; he forged it out of a meteorite."

"What's a meteorite?" I wondered aloud.

He explained as best he could about what he called "outer space," stars, and meteors. "So he made a sword out of a rock from the sky."

"Basically," Zuko said.

"That's...confusing but also really cool," I said.

"That sentence basically describes yesterday for me," Zuko said wryly.

I nodded. "Yeah, me too. It's not every day you get a fire-shooting scarred guy randomly plunked on your island."

Golden eyes darkened with bitter remembrance, flickering like strikes of lightning. I heard him mutter something that I thought might have been "better here than Ember Island."

I studied him. He'd mentioned wanting to put the past behind him and not dwell on it, and I got the sense that he was trying.

But Zuko's childhood was so traumatic and unforgettable that I wasn't sure he quite knew how.

 **Zuko**

Hiccup and I distracted ourselves in the smithy for a while. He allowed me to mess around with the forge for a while while he worked on something upstairs. I messed around with the different tools and tried not to break anything. After a while, I ducked my head and climbed up the narrow staircase, curious as to what my friend was up to.

I found him in a small area filled with lots of shelves and a desk at which he was sitting. The shelves housed baskets, small tools, and clay pottery. The wall that Hiccup was facing was pinned with mechanic blueprints that fascinated me, as well as various sketches of Toothless.

Hiccup was poring over a half-finished blueprint, fingering a pencil and stuck in deep thought. He started as the door creaked and I walked in.

"Hey. Melt anything yet?" he teased.

"Not quite," I replied. "What are you doing?"

"Working on some designs," Hiccup said, beckoning me over.

"I want to update my prosthetic leg," he explained as I squinted at the drawings, "and see if I can make it a bit more convenient for myself. This one's for walking, that one's for flying with Toothless, and that one's for extra traction—you know, when I'm walking on ice and stuff." He pointed to each sketch as he described its use.

"Wow," I said. "I could never make something like this."

"I don't even know if _I_ can," Hiccup pointed out. "This is just the planning stage."

"Good point." We went back downstairs to the forge, which had died down to embers while I was upstairs, resulting in a half-melted sword glowing faintly orange in a dying fire, its handle sticking out where I could reach it. I thrust my palm at it, and a tongue of flame burrowed into the coals. Soon, the sword's aura was the bright color of the fire around it. As a firebender, I wasn't bothered much by heat, so, out of curiosity, I grasped the handle and raised the sword.

It was sort of beautiful, in a metallic way. Carefully I gave it a little flick, and it sent embers spewing everywhere.

One of them floated over to land on Toothless's nose—he had been sitting patiently outside the shop. He went cross-eyed as he watched it float down, then sneezed as the burning speck made contact with his dark scales.

Hiccup looked amused and thoughtful as he watched his friend. He seemed to mull over something.

"Be right back," he said; "I have to write something down. This idea is probably stupid, but it's too good to lose."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiccup**

The next few days were spent experimenting and planning.

I'd described my crazy idea to Zuko; I'd gotten it after seeing Toothless's passive and complacent attitude towards the firebender due to his abilities. I wasn't sure how well a flaming sword would turn out, but I decided that I wanted to try anyway. How hard could it be?

 _Very_ hard.

I had no idea how I was going to make this work—not at first, at least. How does one keep metal flaming? How could I store it anywhere without scorching myself to a crisp?

The answer came to me in the form of Snotlout's fireball of a Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang. We'd discovered that a Nightmare's saliva was highly flammable, so if I coated the blade of my sword in it, in theory, I could ignite it to have a flaming sword. I also eventually planned to put a lighter in the hilt so I could easily ignite the blade.

"Well, it's not as cool as firebending," I remarked to Zuko as we watched Toothless play in a patch of smoke from the furnace we were using. "But I'm still pretty proud of this idea."

"You should be," said Zuko, smiling as Toothless let out a sneeze. "I thought the Fire Nation was advanced, and maybe we are compared to you, but our weapons are going to have nothing on Inferno!"

I laughed as I checked on the metal again. "Even the flaming fireball catapults you mentioned?"

"Well—" He paused. "Okay, maybe except for those. I doubt they'd be much use in hand-to-hand combat, though."

Toothless's wings had been flapping like a hummingbird's for the last minute, and he'd soon whisked away all the smoke (thankfully in the opposite direction from us). He stopped in front of me and looked at me indignantly.

"Make your own smoke," I told him, pushing his snout away gently. "I'm not the one with an unlimited source."

He snorted some in my face.

"Thank you for the donation."

Zuko snorted in amusement, then opened his palm, releasing smoke that Toothless ran away to chase as the light wind tugged at it.

 _"Definitely_ not as cool as firebending," I repeated with a smile, watching the Night Fury bound off.

Zuko didn't respond; he was watching Toothless with a thoughtful expression. "Wow. If only the dragons were still around in my world...Look how much happiness they bring everyone!"

I nodded. "Yeah...I hadn't really thought about how lucky we are to have them. I always just kind of saw them as what makes Berk, well, Berk. They're as common as sheep. I...I've never really wondered what it would be like without them."

I looked down at the ground, my eyes travelling to the metal glint of my prosthetic. What with Toothless's half-artificial tail, I always thought of it as a good thing; it linked me to my dragon even more than before I had it.

What would I be, though, should the dragons...leave? My fake leg wouldn't signify how much I needed Toothless. It would be just that—a fake leg.

I glanced back over at Zuko, whose gaze had settled on me. How had his world been different before the dragons' extinction; had it been like Berk?

Did that mean, if the dragons left, Berk could become like that—left ragged and torn by a century of brutal war by its own creation?

I looked away and shook the thought. _It's different,_ I thought. _His dragons are like gods; our dragons are more like...humans, I guess. I don't worship Toothless; he's my best friend._

 _But would that make it even harder to lose him?_

Biting my lip, I shoved the worry to the back of my mind and turned back to Zuko.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go see where Toothless ran off to."

 **Zuko**

We found Toothless by the docks, greeting a boat of two fishermen that was just returning by attempting to eat some of their fish. They feebly fended him off, though I did spot one of the two, a blond Viking who—for whatever reason—wore a bucket on his head, slip him a minnow or two. I smiled as Hiccup, flustered, ran over to him, tugging the Night Fury away and sheepishly apologizing to the men.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, guys. Toothless, you know better than that. Come on, bud." Toothless reluctantly followed Hiccup back over to where I stood.

Even after Toothless stopped raiding their boat, the fishermen's faces remained flushed and anxious. Hiccup noticed their expressions and frowned. "What is it?"

The second fisherman, who was brown-haired with a large, bushy beard, glanced at him worriedly. "I was going to find Stoick, but you should probably hear this too, as you're the dragon expert. We have a problem."

* * *

I paced back and forth outside the Great Hall, waiting impatiently for Hiccup to come out from behind the gargantuan wooden doors. He, his father, and the fishermen (their names were Mulch and, fittingly, Bucket, I'd been informed) were inside discussing the "problem" Mulch had mentioned. I hadn't been allowed in for the meeting, but I really hadn't expected to be. I was from another world, after all, and while I might have befriended Hiccup, I still barely knew Stoick and the rest of the Vikings.

My boredom increasing, I plopped down on the top of the stone staircase, watching various sizes, species, and colors of dragons swarm around the village below. I didn't have the slightest clue about what the fishermen's problem was or whether it had anything to do with myself. Mulch had mentioned Hiccup being the "dragon expert," so I had a slight clue there. I'd been contemplating this for the few hours I'd been waiting outside, but I couldn't come up with anything more than "it's dragon-related."

I suddenly felt an unexpected wave of homesickness. As welcoming as Hiccup was and as distracting as designing Inferno had been, I hadn't been as confused and lost as I'd been in the last few days since...probably since before the solar eclipse. The universe really did have it in for me, didn't it? I finally come to my senses and my hard work finally pays off, but then what immediately happens? I'm whisked away to another world.

 _It could be worse,_ I reminded myself. _I could be with my father._

All of my muscles automatically tensed up. They always did that when I thought about Ozai. I tried to calm myself down, but that seemed to make it a little worse.

A loud creak sounded and I started, stubbing my toe as I craned my head to look behind me. I did so just inside to see Stoick pass by, not glancing at me. He was followed by Mulch and Bucket, who shuffled awkwardly; Bucket gave me a small wave. Last to exit was Hiccup. I stood up.

"So...how was your meeting?" I asked.

He paused. "Interesting."

"Elaborate?"

He grimaced. "I can't say much. I promised Dad I'd keep quiet."

I was slightly frustrated, but I let it go quickly. I hadn't really expected to be let in on the confidentials.

"That's fine," I said.

"It has something to do with dragons," he offered.

"Yeah. I gathered that much."

I wondered what had been discussed behind the colossal doors of the Great Hall, and whether I'd ever get to hear it. I was hardly the dragon expert there, but I felt as if I'd be able to help. I supposed I'd just have to wait and see.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiccup**

Having returned home, I slumped down in a kitchen chair and mulled over the meeting he'd just been in.

* * *

I sat down on one of the benches in the Great Hall beside my mountain of a father and across from Mulch and Bucket. I was eager to find out what the fishermen had seen and what it had to do with dragons.

Stoick cleared his throat. "Alright, so here we are. You can start by telling me what you saw on your fishing trip. I need to know if it's a threat to Berk."

Mulch glanced at Bucket, then began his tale.

"Well, we were out just past Helheim's Gate, far enough that we could see the ruins of the dragons' nest. That place still scares me sometimes...we hadn't had much luck there, so we decided to head back towards calmer waters.

"Before we got far, though, we heard this roar. It was earsplitting and loud, definitely draconic."

"That's nothing new," I pointed out. "Even with the Red Death gone, dragons still hang out there sometimes. They're used to it; it was their home, however dangerous. I'd guess it was a Monstrous Nightmare—you know they love the lava."

"Yes," Mulch agreed; "we've seen Nightmares there before. This was way too loud to be one though, and it didn't sound like them. It was almost as loud as the Red Death...it sounded big."

Stoick frowned. "Okay, but was there any other indication that it wasn't just another dragon?"

Bucket chimed in. "Trust me, Chief, this wasn't just any dragon."

I glanced at my father's ruddy face. He looked fairly skeptical, and I couldn't blame him. Mulch and Bucket weren't exactly the bravest of Vikings, or the most knowledgeable about the different dragon species.

Nevertheless, though, they looked genuinely concerned, and while they may not have been the best at giving descriptions, I could tell they'd been thoroughly shaken by whatever they'd heard.

"We should at least check it out," I reasoned with Dad. "It's most likely a Nightmare, but it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it?"

He glanced at me and scowled slightly— _safe_ isn't exactly his strong suit—but relented. "Alright, but I'm not wasting a whole boat of men. You and Toothless can go give it a look tomorrow. Take Astrid with you, but do me a favor and don't tell anyone else. I'm not spreading panic throughout the island about something that probably doesn't even matter."

"Okay," I agreed. Mulch looked like he wanted to protest, but he said no more as we all got up and went to leave. I caught his eye and tried to be reassuring.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm sure it's going to be fine."

 **Zuko**

I sat by the edge of the cliff, watching the sunrise tint the vast ocean with its warm, milky glow. Berk sure was beautiful—there were no factories blocking the views with their plumes of smog.

"Hey, Zuko."

I glanced up, spotting Hiccup, who had appeared standing by my side. "Oh, hello."

"I thought it'd be worth telling you I'll be away most of the day. You can mess around in the smithy—I checked with Gobber; he says it's fine—, or I bet Fishlegs would let you ride Meatlug again."

"Oh, alright," I said. "Where will you be?"

"Out with Astrid," he said vaguely.

I grinned at him. "Ah, I see. Going out for a little romantic flight?"

The corners of his mouth quirked up. "I suppose you could call it that, although she'd kill me if I did."

"Ah. My kind of girl."

He laughed. "Anyway. I should be going. See you later."

"Bye. I'll try not to burn down the village while you're gone."

"That would be appreciated."

I watched him walk away for a few more seconds, then stood up myself. The morning sun was now completely above the horizon, and it was starting to burn the dew off of the long grass on the cliff. I started off down the hill back towards the village.

I reached Berk just in time to see two distant shapes—one black, one sky blue—lift up into the sky and take off towards the dawn. I smiled sadly in remembrance of my girlfriend, Mai. _I wonder what she's up to._

The thought of her, of course, led my brain down the track of homesickness again. I realized I hadn't been keeping track of how long I'd been gone. I counted the days on my fingers to find that I was on my sixth day in Berk. Almost a week. I'd been gone nearly a week. My nation had to be in chaos, and here I was, messing around and designing fire-swords with near-strangers.

As much as I enjoyed the Berkians' company, I vowed to Aang, my uncle, Mai, and everyone else that I'd try to get home. From now on, I'd do whatever I could to get home to them.

 _I'll see you again soon,_ I thought. _I promise._


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiccup**

I swung my leg over Toothless's spine-slicked back and into the stirrup. Astrid was already mounted on Stormfly, who was also raring to go. She pawed at the ground, her long claws raking through the loose dirt.

"Whoa, girl," Astrid soothed, patting the Nadder's coarse neck. "It's okay, we can go, now that my idiot boyfriend's finally here."

"It's not my fault," I protested half-heartedly, already knowing she'd win any argument I'd start. "I'm not the one who got here three hours early. We decided on dawn, remember?"

"I like to be ahead of the game," she said loftily. "And I am."

"A little _too_ ahead if you ask me," I muttered. She looked at me for a few seconds as if debating whether to swat me, then seemed to decide against it.

"Come on," she said instead. "Let's get going."

Before I could even say "okay," she and Stormfly had taken off. I nudged Toothless into action, and he leaped into the air as I adjusted his tail.

We flew all day. It started raining only a few minutes after we left, and by late afternoon, as Helheim's Gate came into sight, it was hailing. Typical Berk.

Dragon Island was one of the newer discoveries in our archipelago. It was hard to believe it had only been a little over a year when the tribe had first landed on its rocky shores. It had used to be a mighty mountain that stood tall over the sea below, filled with rivers of lava and, most importantly, dragons.

Now it was crumbling to pieces, broken by the massive Red Death who had once called it home. We weren't actually sure what had happened to the Death's body. It had triggered an explosion when it slammed into the ground, but I was sure that couldn't have been enough to disintegrate it—dragon scales are immune to fire.

Wherever the Red Death was, the remnants of its island remained. Toothless touched down lightly on the shore, which was still overrun with slightly scorched stones and pebbles. Stormfly followed soon after. Grimly, I noticed the ominous skeletons of Viking ships scattered in the distance. The dragons may have been mostly gone from the place, but it still held some dark memories. My eyes flicked involuntarily to my left leg. Toothless let out an uncomfortable noise deep in his throat, his green gaze flitting from me to Stormfly to the crushed volcano. Stormfly cawed, her pupils contracting to slits.

I patted Toothless's neck. "It's okay, bud," I reassured him, though I had no confidence in the statement. I had no idea what we might find here, or what might go down.

Astrid and I dismounted. "I don't hear anything," Astrid noted dubiously. "I hope this wasn't a waste of my time."

"Relax," I told her. "We just got here."

We started walking, making for the craggy remains of the volcano. The dragons were on edge, and at times would stop dead, looking around.

We reached the crumbled mountain and carefully climbed our way onto the walls of crushed stone. There were definitely areas large enough to hide dragons—around a quarter of the volcano was still intact.

In fact, one of the first things we noticed was the tip of a red snout peering out from a crevice.

"Nightmare," Astrid muttered. "Look, there's more; they're everywhere. I knew it. Fishermen always overreact."

I felt a mixture of relief and regret. It would have been cool to have found a new species of dragon, but at least we didn't have to fight anything.

Toothless suddenly tensed beside me. I heard the faint sound of his teeth sliding out from his gums.

"What is it, bud?" I asked him. He blinked, and I noticed he was staring off into the depths of the part of the volcano that still stood.

"Astrid, wait," I said as she made to leave. She and Stormfly made simultaneous impatient noises that I would've found funny had I not been so on edge.

Toothless made a noise deep in his throat and crouched down. A thread of light seeped in from where he'd been blocking it. It caught on something deep in the mountain, and I inhaled as I saw a bright shimmer of gold.

"Did you see that?" Astrid asked, and I nodded. "We should check it out," she insisted. "That's what we're here for."

"Yes," I agreed, "but stay quiet."

We swung ourselves up on our dragons' backs and glided into the depths of the mountain. Dragons on all sides shied away as we flew past, a few baring their teeth or growling at us. I couldn't see the gold object anymore, as the four of us blocked the light, but Toothless's superb night vision led us in the right direction.

We entered a cavern lit by a pool of lava. It provided enough light for me to finally see properly. At first I noticed nothing out of the ordinary—I didn't even see anything gold. Then Astrid pointed, and I saw it.

It was mostly smooth, but on each of four sides was etched intricate markings that were definitely not runes and that I'd never seen before. It looked thicker than any I'd ever seen before, but the dark gold object nestled in a small cavity in the rock was undeniably—

"A dragon egg," I whispered.

"Look at those designs," Astrid said, frowning. "I've never seen them before. What are they?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "Hmm...I wonder what its parents look like. Where are they, anyway?"

"I have no idea," Astrid said, "but I'm going to take a guess that they're what Mulch and Bucket heard. We should probably get out of here before they come back and make us into toast for messing with their egg."

I glanced reluctantly behind me. "You're probably right. At least let me get a picture of it first."

I fumbled around for my sketchbook and pencil, turning to the next blank page and hastily beginning to draw the golden egg.

"Hurry up," urged Astrid. Even Stormfly had started fidgeting.

"I know, I know," I muttered, squinting closely at the smooth surface and scribbling down a few more details. "Okay, got it. Let's get out of here."

"Say no more," Astrid said, sounding relieved. She gave Stormfly a little nudge, who needed no further encouragement to whirl around and bolt for the exit. Toothless, too, leaped into flight as soon as he could.

I frowned to myself as we swooped out of the mountain. I knew Dragon Island had been the home of the Red Death, but it was still the nest Stormfly and Toothless had originated from. Why would they be so on edge? The only other creatures there were other dragons, nothing they hadn't seen before.

Toothless began to relax as they passed over the shoreline, though the Night Fury's tea green eyes kept flitting back to the crumbling volcano, pupils contracted into slits of unease. Up ahead, I noticed Astrid patting Stormfly in a soothing manner; the Nadder's tail spikes were puffed up in a show of defense.

As much as I was concerned about the dragons' behavior, I was also curious. Was it simply post-traumatic stress? Was that a thing for dragons? Maybe.

Before I had time to ponder this any more, a sound rang out from behind me. It was akin to a hawk's cry, but much more colossal, draconic, and deadly. My skin was racked with chills, and every muscle in Toothless's body tensed beneath me. Stormfly whirled around, her pupils becoming even thinner, if that was possible. Astrid and I locked eyes, both of us visibly shaken.

The roar died down, and Astrid said in a hushed voice, "Any chance that's what Mulch and Bucket were talking about?"

"I have no doubt."

I wheeled Toothless around, too, scanning the nooks and crannies of the mountain for any source of the bone-chilling cry. I attempted to move Toothless a little closer, but he balked abruptly, tossing his head and quivering ever so slightly.

"Woah, Toothless!" I tried quickly to calm the dragon down. "Easy, bud, easy." He glanced up at me; his eyes were wild and scared. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Astrid having the same troubles with Stormfly. Whatever this new dragon was, it terrified our two reptilian companions.

"Hiccup, we should leave," Astrid called. "Stormfly's freaking out."

"Toothless is, too," I agreed. "Let's get out of here."

We turned back towards Helheim's Gate as another screech sounded behind us. I shivered, glancing behind me one last time. I didn't know what this strange dragon species was, but somehow I knew that wouldn't be the last I'd see—or, I suppose, hear—of it.

 **Zuko**

I'd spent most of the day gathering maps to study. The shape of Berk was still nothing like any islands I was familiar with back home, so I still had no idea how to get home.

I frowned, running a finger over the parchment for the fifty-seventh time. I still didn't even know if the Fire Nation could even be reached from Berk. I, myself, was fairly skeptical of magic, but it was always possible. It wouldn't be anything weirder than I'd already experienced here.

I heard the loud creaking of the Great Hall doors behind me and turned around to see a very shaken quartet of Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons walking in.

"Hey, Zuko," Hiccup said, making the effort to give me a wave. I returned it.

"Hello," I said. "How was your outing?"

They glanced at each other for a moment or two. "...Interesting," Hiccup said evasively. "Er...Astrid, did you want to go find my dad and explain?"

"Sure," Hiccup's girlfriend said, "though he'll want to see your, ah, field notes."

"Of course." Hiccup nodded.

Astrid and Stormfly left, and I gave Hiccup a very confused look. " _Field notes?_ I thought this was supposed to be a date."

He smiled apologetically as Astrid shot him a " _what_ did you tell him?" look while leaving, and I noticed that he tightened his grip on a small, leatherbound notebook he was holding. "I'll explain later, if my dad lets me. He _is_ the chief, after all." I nodded.

I looked at him more closely. He still looked utterly gobsmacked, but I couldn't imagine why. I had no idea what kind of mission Stoick had sent him on, and why the results had Toothless looking as skittish as a rabaroo.

It was so frustrating not knowing anything. I was supposed to be the leader of a nation, and yet here I was, as helpless and uninformed as a small child. And the less I knew, the harder it would be to figure out how to get home. And the longer I stayed from home, the longer I worried my friends and left my nation in chaos.

I looked Hiccup in the eye, whose eyebrows lifted slightly as he noticed the extra steel in my face.

"What is it?" the Berkian inquired.

"I'm not going to push any more than this," I said, "but this I need to know. Whatever in the world you're working on, I need to know whether it has anything to do with me or my home."

Hiccup looked sympathetic, but he shook his head. "As far as I know, no. I'm sorry, Zuko."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay. I just had to ask; I really do need to get home."

"Understandable," Hiccup agreed, though his expression had morphed into a slightly wistful one. I found myself sharing his unspoken sentiments: I _did_ need to get home, but I'd be reluctant to leave Hiccup's company behind. I felt that, given a chance, he'd fit right in with Aang and the rest of Team Avatar.

Hiccup then noticed the heap of maps sprawled on the table behind me. "I'm assuming that's what those are for?"

I glanced at them briefly. "Oh, yeah. I was looking to see if I could find any familiar landmarks, but I got nothing."

"That's too bad," Hiccup said. "Looks like we've got absolutely nothing to go off of, then."

"Yep. Still at square one."

Hiccup looked for a moment as if he wanted to ask what "square one" meant, but decided against it. I made a mental note to avoid using idioms around the Vikings.

"Anyways," Hiccup said, "I should probably go find my dad before he finds me."

"Good idea," I agreed, and gave him a quick wave as he exited the Great Hall. Toothless, who was still just inside the threshold of the doorway, had curled up into a tight, scaly black ball with seemingly no intention of getting up, despite Hiccup's multiple pokes on his shoulder. Hiccup gave up and left; I noticed Toothless's eye flickering open to make sure he was going and smiled to myself. I supposed even dragons just wanted some sleep sometimes.

But, while keeping my gaze on the Night Fury, I noticed that that wish wasn't coming true so easily. Toothless kept fidgeting, and I could have sworn I saw him shoot me a look or two. "What?" I said when I caught another glimpse of green.

Toothless shifted and sat up. His thin nostrils flared and his body was tensed up. Whatever had happened on his and Hiccup's outing, it had frightened him pretty badly.

My brow creased in sympathy, but I didn't think I could help the dragon's condition if I didn't know what was wrong. I figured it would be best to leave him be.

It was getting late anyway. The last rays of the evening sun brushed my face as I got up to shut the Great Hall doors. Toothless laid down again, obscuring his green irises again as he settled down for the night. I slumped down against the wall next to him and shut my eyes. Hopefully the next day would reap more useful results.


	11. Update

UPDATE/AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I will still be continuing this story, but updates will be few and far between, as I haven't really had much inspiration lately. Stupid writer's block -.- So just be aware that this story will be slowly progressing (sorry!) but it will still go on! Thank you!


	12. ACCOUNT UPDATE (I'm back!)

UPDATE/AUTHOR'S NOTE

 _owo what's this?_ I actually logged into this account again? whaaaaat?

I'd like to thank everyone who's left reviews on my stories telling me how much they love them. Reading all of these surprised me and left me feeling so grateful. That's why I've decided to continue this account! The stories I will be continuing are _Hiccup Lost_ and _How to Train Your Firebender_ , and there will be some new stories from some new fandoms coming very soon! I've also recently made an Archive of Our Own account, so you can find me under drollydragon there as well! I'll be posting new stories there as well. Thank you to everyone who has read and appreciated my stories; I love you all so much for that! Expect new chapters for _Hiccup Lost_ and HTTYF within the next few weeks, and look forward to new content! Thank you once more!

-drollydragon

P.S. this note will be left on several of my stories so you might see it multiple times.


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